


Bird Watching (and also Richie Tozier Watching)

by bellarose_writes



Series: Reddie Tumblr One Shots [16]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-IT Chapter Two (2019), Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Stanley Uris Lives, Stanley Uris is a Good Friend, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:13:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24221863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellarose_writes/pseuds/bellarose_writes
Summary: After Derry, on a group visit to see Stanley and Patty, Stanley takes Richie bird watching so he can confront him about Eddie.Originally posted on my Tumblr as a request.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Patricia Blum Uris/Stanley Uris
Series: Reddie Tumblr One Shots [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1723318
Comments: 4
Kudos: 67





	Bird Watching (and also Richie Tozier Watching)

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to follow me on Tumblr @Bellarosewrites

Have you ever been in love?” Stanley asked quietly. Richie coughed as he began to laugh nervously.

“What, no!” Richie laughed.

“Shhh,” Stanley hissed as Richie quickly. 

They had been sitting in silence for about half an hour inside a cramped bird-watching cabin. It had been Patty’s idea. All the losers were visiting Stanley and his wife for the first time after Derry. It had been a week when Stanely had said he had to go out for a couple of hours by himself because he just needed to go see the rare birds that had been migrating and had been spotted in the forest half an hour away from his house. The losers had been fine with it, saying they were going to go into town for breakfast anyway. They had been used to Stanely’s lonesome trips to birdwatch as kids without the distractions of his friends. But then Patty had suggested taking Richie, and all the losers laughed until they realised she wasn’t joking. She was seriously suggesting Richie try to stay silent for a couple of hours while trapped in a bird-watching cabin with Stanley. Patty had widened her eyes at Stanley and Stanley groaned before saying, “ _go get dressed Richie_ ,” like he was being forced to take his annoying child out for the day. Stanely knew exactly why Patty had asked him to take Richie with him, and it _wasn’t_ because she secretly hated her husband which is what the other Losers had thought when they heard Patty’s suggestion.

“You asked me a question,” Richie whispered, “Why are you allowed to talk and I’m not.”

“Just don’t shout when you talk, idiot. You’ll scare the birds away.” Stanley hissed and carried on looking through his binoculars. 

Patty had asked Stanley to take Richie because of the way Richie had been acting the whole trip. Richie was annoying, more than usual. He seemed to be on edge the whole trip, constantly jabbering away to all the Losers. But it wasn’t just that. There were moments where Richie was completely silent, but only when he thought that no one was looking. A couple of nights before, Patty had gone downstairs to grab a glass of water, when she had seen Richie outside alone smoking slowly. When Patty had gone back upstairs to tell Stanely what she had seen, she had sworn that Richie was crying. Stanely had scoffed as he pulled his reading glasses off and said, “ _no way_.” But they both crept down and spied on Stanley’s childhood friend, watching him sob as he leant on their patio and cried. 

Richie groaned as he leaned back the wooden bench and it made a loud creak and Stanely shook his head. 

“I asked you a question,” Stanely sighed as he kept scanning the branches through his binoculars.

“Why are you even asking me that?” Richie hissed.

Stanley had promised his wife he would bring it up to Richie at some point in the trip, but the right time never happened. The Losers were always all together. They ate, drank, and told stories that they had missed from each other’s lives. But Stanely couldn’t help but watch Richie carefully. There were moments when Richie actually kept his mouth shut, and that’s when Eddie was talking. Richie would sit there, resting his chin on his palm and elbow on the armchair as he listened to Eddie speak. Richie had a soft smile across his face when Eddie spoke, watching his arms as they moved around energetically as he told stories. Stanely wondered if any of the other Losers had noticed it. 

“Because,” Stanley muttered, “I think you’re in love and you haven’t told anyone.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Richie murmured defensively. 

They had been out walking the day before, climbing up a mountain to see the view of Stanely’s city. Stanely walked with his wife, lending her a hand as they climbed up difficult parts of the rocky path. When they had reached the top, they were all blown away by the view in front of them. They all stared out in amazement. Eddie had murmured, “ _this is so beautiful_.” Stanley looked around with his arm around his wife to see Richie staring at Eddie rather than the gradual sunset in front of them. The way that Richie was looking at Eddie was something that Stanely remembered from childhood. He would often catch Richie having quiet moments as he watched his best friend lovingly, watching the way Eddie laughed or ran around in the Barrens. Stanely used to carefully watch Richie smiling at Eddie and wonder what was going through Richie’s head, like he was doing now. That’s when it clicked. 

“You know, Rich, I think if you started letting your feelings out, people would find you less irritating,” Stanley whispered. 

“Fuck you,” Richie grumbled. 

“So are you going to tell me or not?”

As a kid, Richie never talked to anyone about his problems, but it didn’t stop Stanely being able to read him like a book. Stanely had known Richie was different as a kid, and deep down Stanley thought he knew why. After a sunny afternoon by the barrens, Stanely and Richie walked home together and Stanely had said to him that _the losers loved Richie no matter what._ Richie had scoffed and said that Stanely was being wet. But Stanely was persistent by saying it again, and Richie had replied with a simple, “ _I know.”_ Eddie and Richie’s relationship was different from the other losers. Every petty argument or joke was filled with an energy between them that Stanely couldn’t explain to anyone and he didn’t necessarily understand. You just had to see them, and then you could see the electricity between them. Stanely didn’t know what that energy meant until he had experienced it for himself later in his life when he met Patty. Seeing Richie and Eddie together as adults was a whole new experience. Eddie was a lot more confident since his divorce and Richie was a lot more grown-up, even if he didn’t act like it. But the energy was still there. The constant bickering, the soft touches, the side glances and giggles. 

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about Stan,” Richie mumbled. Stanley sighed as he put the binoculars down again and looked around at Richie. He was sick of this, he just wanted to watch the birds.

“Don’t make me straight up ask you.” Stanely argued and Richie blinked nervously. “We both know that neither of us is good at talking about feelings.”

Stanely had watched them as they sat and drank the night before. Once they had got back from their hike, they ordered take out and drank red wine. At one point as the group was all laughing and not paying attention, Eddie had put his hand on Richie’s leg. Richie stopped laughing at they stared at each other for a moment. Stanely raised his eyebrows at the sight of Richie beginning to flush. Richie nervously and quickly saying he had to go to the toilet. Eddie went back into the group’s conversation acting like nothing had happened, but Stanely could see an annoyance on his face No one else saw the moment apart from Stanely. It was obvious Eddie was trying to send signals to Richie, but Richie was too nervous to do anything back. 

“You need to tell Eddie how you feel.” Stanely finally spoke. He watched Richie fall speechless, his mouth opening and closing trying to get worlds out to defend himself. “He likes you too and it’s infuriating to watch. Make a fucking move man.” Stanely groaned as he picked his binoculars back up and started scanning the branches again. 

“How-how- how do you know he likes me?” Richie stuttered.

“Because I know everything.” Stanely sarcastically muttered, still looking through the binoculars.

“I’m scared, Stan.” Richie said, suddenly very serious. Stanley leaned back up and smiled at Richie, who was nervously looking down at his feet. Stanley put an arm around his friend and thought about all the pent up sadness Richie had probably been holding all these years. 

“Richie, you need to be brave,” Stanley said softly. “You’re both so good for each other, you just have to tell him how you feel. And no matter what, we all love you for you. You just need to have the confidence to be _you_.”

“You’re a good friend Stan,” Richie mumbled, he looked up to smile at Stanley. Stanely patted him on the shoulder. 

“Now, let me watch these fucking birds. I can’t deal with your drama anymore.” Stanley mattered and Richie chuckled.

“You haven’t changed, Stan the man.”

“Neither have you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to follow me on Tumblr @Bellarosewrites
> 
> Also, leave some love!


End file.
